The best hotels in Venice
With its 150 canals, 400 bridges and magnificent 16th- and 17th-century palaces and piazzas, it is no surprise that Venice is considered one of the prettiest cities in Europe. It's only natural then that the hotels within Italy's floating city offer up baroque bedrooms draped in decadent velvets and contemporary, while creative crashpads invite a star-studded cast of culture vultures and creatives.
Venice is no stranger to the hordes and when the crowds come they're mostly here to chase that elusive canal view. If you have deep pockets you can get a VIP front row seat to such sought-after sights – Il Palazzo Experimental enjoys postcard views over the Giudecca Canal, the garden at The St Regis. overlooks the Grand Canal. But it's not all velvet decadence and million dollar views. Venice is home to some charming boutique stays too – we love the laidback and lovely Casa Burano.
How we choose the best hotels in Venice
Every hotel on this list has been selected independently by our editors and written by a Condé Nast Traveller journalist who knows the destination and has stayed at that property. When choosing hotels, our editors consider both luxury properties and boutique and lesser-known boltholes that offer an authentic and insider experience of a destination. We’re always looking for beautiful design, a great location and warm service – as well as serious sustainability credentials. We update this list regularly as new hotels open and existing ones evolve.
What is the best area in Venice to stay in?
Many of the hotels on this list are located in San Marco, the most popular of Venice’s six sestieri (central districts). San Marco is home to the city’s top attractions as well – St Mark Basilica, Doge’s Palace and The Bridge of Sighs – and in turn is also the busiest part of Venice. For a stay that’s away from the crowds, opt for a hotel in Dorsoduro, like Ca Maria Adele, where you’ll find a mix of tourists and locals along with the city’s top art galleries. Another option is the charming and smallest of the sestieri, San Polo, where you’ll find beautiful churches, some of the best restaurants in Venice and the unique country-house hotel Oltre Il Giardino.
Courtesy Starwood Hotels & ResortshotelThe Gritti Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel
$$$Featured in our Gold List of the best hotels in the world 2024
If you were to enter The Gritti Palace without realising it offered board and lodging, you might find yourself looking for the ticket counter. The ultimate grande dame in Venice is every inch a museum of the city’s decorative history, with its silk and damask wall coverings, acres of painted stucco and precious marble, and gilded ceiling beams from which Murano chandeliers hang like elegant jellyfish. It was only in 2013 when it reopened following a $38 million revamp, that The Gritti was able to square the wow of the guest experience with the wow of its antique splendour. (In the 1940s, when Ernest Hemingway penned his Gritti-set novel Across the River and Into the Trees, it didn’t even have en-suite bathrooms). You don’t need to book the airily magnificent Somerset Maugham Royal Suite to feel that you have joined the club; a not-so-modest, entry-level Deluxe Room will do just fine. It, too, is swathed in stylish Rubelli fabrics; it too feels like Casanova might be hiding in the wardrobe. The Gritti Terrace, with its views across gondola-infested waters to the great Salute church, is one of Venice’s finest breakfast spots, and the late 2023 arrival of executive chef Alberto Fol from Hotel Danieli is a local win. At the deliciously private Bar Longhi, happiness is pulling up a stool at the inlaid marble counter, asking head barman Cristiano Luciani to fix one of his moreish wild fennel martinis and channelling your inner Peggy Guggenheim. From around £675. Lee Marshall
Guillaume de LaubierNolinski Venezia
In 1819 Shelley wrote of Venice: “Its temples and its palaces did seem/Like fabrics of enchantment pil’d to heaven.” They still do. The new Nolinski Venezi is a glorious addition to the city’s pile of enchanted fabrics. In the context of five-star hotels, it’s also a slightly unusual addition. It occupies the former stock-exchange building in the Calle Larga XXII Marzo, in the thick of what is these days the smartest shopping street in town.
This is the second Nolinski hotel from French hospitality group Evok. Like the first, which opened in Paris in 2016, it’s been undertaken with exceptional sensitivity and flair. The interiors, by Frenchman Yann Le Coadic and Italian Alessandro Scotto, deploy contemporary, Art Deco and mid-century industrial elements in a way that honours and elevates the grandeur of the fine Liberty Style building. The tones and textures are ravishing: powder-pink, rust-red and blue-grey; strict metallic geometries offsetting soft, wavy lines. Their contribution is complemented by a superbly curated collection of art and glassware. It all comes together to dazzling effect in the Library Bar, tall and narrow, plush and velvety, sexy and nerdy, its walls lined with 4,000 books and its ceiling decorated with a hypnotically radiant painting by Simon Buret. Steve King
Address: Calle Larga XXII Marzo, 2032, 30124 Venezia
Ca'di Dio
With a prime spot on the St. Mark’s Basin waterfront, right in front of the Arsenale ferry terminal, no bridges or steps are required to reach the boutique Ca’di Dio. A water taxi can deliver you directly to the hotel’s dock. From the ferry stop, it’s mere steps before reaching the jewel box hotel lounge-meets-lobby. Plush velvet and leather seating and colourful Murano glass are sprinkled about, all courtesy of Spanish designer Patrica Urquiola, who executed a unique retro-modern makeover when the VRetreats hotel opened in 2021. There are 66 rooms, some with lagoon views, others with wooden beam ceilings, all with refined art deco-style glass lighting. In a previous life, the bolthole was a medieval pilgrim's hostel. There are two traditional Altana-raised roof terraces and three internal courtyards, the largest of which is a dreamy, leafy space. If the weather permits, don’t miss breakfast – organic eggs, perfect bacon and fresh juice – or aperitivo hour in the courtyard, possibly one of the most peaceful spots in the crowd-loving city. Lauren Burvill
Address: Ca'di Dio, Riva Ca' di Dio, 2183, 30122 Venezia VE, Italy
Courtesy Belmond/Mattia AquilaCipriani, A Belmond hotel
As featured in our 2023 Gold List of the best hotels in the world
The journey is as important as the arrival, they say, and when applied to the home and garden of earthly delights that is the Belmond Cipriani, it means something. A vintage motor launch in varnished cedar, the last word in 1970s Venetian nautical chic, awaits to whisk you from the terminal or the crowds of St. Mark’s Square to the hotel, where the charming Roberto, who has been here forever, greets guests with a personal flourish. Unlike Venice’s other luxury hotels that have been poured into existing historic palaces, fighting against a corset of strict regulations, the Cipriani was custom-built in 1958 with plenty of elbow room, on three acres of land of the Giudecca, then owned by Guinness nobility. The daughters, Honor and Brigid, were fans of Harry’s Bar, a small panelled den in the heart of Venice, and invited its owner, Giuseppe Cipriani, to think big and create a hotel in partnership with them. The result is a place that is still unrivalled for that spirit of urbane hedonism; for generous and attentive service that never genuflects; for an easy atmosphere of peace and sanctuary alongside a sense of clubhouse discretion and rarefied exclusivity.
In the summer, when the canals in Venice get stinkier, the Cipriani offers more than a breath of fresh air. The grounds are large enough for tennis courts, a kitchen garden, a vineyard, and a spa within the orange blossom-scented Casanova gardens, where the eponymous lady-killer wooed the neighbouring nunnery. They are a haven for birds and Roberta the tortoise, who, unfortunately, hasn’t been seen since a recent acqua alta. Meanwhile, around the showpiece Olympic-size pool, the beating heart of the hotel (and a happy accident of scale, because the architect got his meters and feet mixed up), sunbathing is raised to the level of theatre, with endless opportunities for people-watching around the travertine-marble terrace. Here, Hollywood moguls cement film deals in loud voices while Venetian aristocrats settle into cabanas for the day, spraying complimentary Evian like Chanel No 5 and addressing the staff as extensions of their family. Sadly, the barman Walter Bolzonella, famous for the Buonanotte cocktail he dreamed up with George Clooney, is retired. The capable Riccardo Semeria has stepped into his shoes, while Riccardo Canella, multi-Michelin superstar chef of Noma fame, takes the culinary helm. He understands that the essence of Italian style is to keep things simple, natural, and familiar, yet still fresh and inventive. This is the hallmark of the Cipriani. Others have tried to emulate its timeless Italian chic. But glamour is an atmosphere, something harder to bottle than an Acqua di Parma scent. It is synonymous with this hotel, with its to-die-for view of the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s, sequestered on the edge of an insignificant island on a lagoon lapping the Adriatic Sea. Catherine Fairweather
Address: Ca'di Dio, Riva Ca' di Dio, 2183, 30122 Venezia VE, Italy
Diego De PolBaglioni Hotel Luna
In terms of location, Baglioni hotel can’t be beaten – tucked literally around the corner from Piazza San Marco, and with a private canal for water taxi arrivals and a gondola ride stop, literally on its doorstep. It’s also the oldest hotel in Venice, dating all the way back to 1118, and one of the most Venetian – as can be only expected from the Italian hotel brand. Inside is suitably resplendent with original Murano chandeliers, antique furniture and silk brocade walls. Breakfast is served in a grandiose room with a fresco ceiling. In the rooms, ornate gilt bed frames are flanked with tasselled pendant lights, bathrooms are generously sized and all marble. It’s a feast for the eyes, but if that’s not enough, lagoon views are also an appealing option. In the evenings, head to the downstairs bar for aperitivo hour – the alla moda order is a glass of Cantine Ferrari – followed by a very special supper at The Canover. You’re in good hands here with Chef Claudio Sadler, who received a Michelin Star in 2021 when helming the Gusto by Sadler restaurant at Baglioni’s Sardinia property. Now in Venice and working with Executive Chef Gennaro Balice, Sadler is making new waves with a traditional yet unexpected approach – dishes like Venetian-style Ox meat or Cappellacci stuffed with shrimp from the lagoon. Whatever the order, everything is delicately plated to look like a whimsical work of art. It’s only a matter of time before the Michelin guide comes calling. Lauren Burvill
Palazzina Grassi
Just two potted palms mark the street entrance to Palazzina Grassi, an indication of the discretion guests can expect when they stay at this stylish hotel designed by Philippe Starck. Engraved pillars from what was originally a family home hold up spotlit ceilings, blood-red curves of Murano glass hang above the bar, and a multitude of mirrors throw reflections at every angle. With masks on the lampshades, TVs hidden in the mirrors and a steam room/shower with neon lights and music, it’s safe to say that Palazzina Grassi’s 20 rooms and five suites will suit those looking for an ultra-modern twist on Venetian hospitality with attention to what guests really need: Dyson hairdryers, full-sized tubes of Diptyque products, and breakfast served until noon. At night Venice’s most flamboyant wander in wearing wigs and Ferragamo to dine on frothy crab cappuccino, shiny stacks of tuna tartare and rich, black squid risotto flecked with gold. Monisha Rajesh
Address: Sestiere San Marco 2760 30124 Venice, Italy
Mirco ToffoloHilton Molino Stucky Venice
Housed in a former flour mill on Giudecca island, the Hilton Molino Stucky Venice is an ideal spot to escape the crowds, owing to its position across the lagoon that laps at the southern edge of the main island. With toile de jouy décor, beamed ceilings and wooden floors, the tower suites feel both rustic yet modern, arched windows flooding the space with shimmering light reflected off green waters. Families will appreciate the mini robes, small Frette slippers, stools in the bathroom and toys on the beds, along with a kids’ club that runs twice a day until 7pm, giving adults a chance to enjoy a fresh bellini or two at the rooftop Skyline bar – the highest in the city – where from May a turquoise pool is open to guests. The highlight here is Aromi, recently reopened under the command of chef Ivan Fargnoli who spent almost 20 years in China, bringing back a vivid set of flavours that infuse his Mediterranean menu. Try the double-boiled duck consommé topped with softly spun floss, ribbons of cuttlefish tagliatelle, and the wagyu ribeye that gleams pink and sparkles with salt. Finish with dark chocolates speckled with Szechuan pepper. Monisha Rajesh
Address: Giudecca 810, Venice 30133, Italy
Karel BalasIl Palazzo Experimental
In a city where aperitivo hour is built into the day, the diet and the dining experience, it was only a matter of time before the mixology masters at Experimental Cocktail Club brought their skills to the scene. At the eastern end of Le Zattere, the hotel has its entrance through the restaurant and bar rather than the lobby, tempting those at check-in to peruse a menu before they’ve even picked up their room key (we like the almondy house Negroni, an Experimental twist on the classic). Bedrooms are inspired by Italy’s Eighties Memphis design movement, with balconies that have postcard views over the Giudecca Canal.
Address: Il Palazzo Experimental, Fondamenta Zattere Al Ponte Lungo, Venice, Italy
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Ca' Pisani Deco Design Hotel
Located in the centre of Venice, Ca' Pisani is housed in a palazzo built in the late 1500s. The 29-room hotel is a mix of minimalist Art Deco inspired by the cool graphics of the 1920s Futurist painters, and eclectic 1930s and 1940s furniture. Each room has a bed from a different period, offset by funky metallic-silver desks and comfy leather armchairs. Just off the sleek lobby, there is a bar and restaurant, La Rivista, which attracts a fashionable crowd of local Venetians.
Address: Ca' Pisani Deco Design Hotel, Rio Terrà Foscarini, 979A, 30123 Venezia VE, Italy
Roberta ValerioAman Venice
It’s unlikely you’ll rub shoulders with Hollywood stars and Italian nobility at Aman’s first European outpost – it’s far too spacious for any such experience – but you might catch a glimpse of both at breakfast or aboard a Riva cruising into the private jetty. George Clooney spent his wedding night in the Alcova Tiepolo Suite, and the top floors are home to the Arrivabenes, who have had the Palazzo Papadopoli in their family for more than 200 years. Grand frescoes and Murano chandeliers create quite a spectacle too, but it’s the all-out Italian restaurant Arva and its low-key location that keep the VIPs coming back again and again.
Address: Aman Venice, Palazzo Papadopoli, Calle Tiepolo Baiamonte, Venice, Italy
Mattia MionettoCasa Burano
Casa Burano is perfectly on-point, with refreshingly contemporary rooms decked out with local furnishings, and bathrooms that deserve a shout out for the enormous steam room and a tub big enough for 10 people. Breakfast is delivered in hampers every morning – homemade yogurt, jam and croissants – and there are limitless espressos. But the best bit is the price. Gianluca Bisol has passed the reins over to his charming son Matteo, and the family want to access that sweet spot in travel, where places aren’t expensive for the sake of it. There’s no reception (you’re simply trotted from vaporetto to room) so it’s easy to instantly relax. No interruptions, just glorious Burano, with its lace and linen shops, lollipop-bright fishermen’s houses and bakeries serving S-shaped Bussolai biscuits that you won’t find anywhere else. All so ridiculously pretty it feels like being on a film set.
Address: Casa Burano, Fondamenta di Santa Caterina, 3, 30142 Venezia VE, Italy
The St Regis
Those who visit Venice for the Biennale stay at the St Regis, where they can be immersed in the contemporary creative art scene before they’ve even left the lobby. There are big names on the walls, a rotation of residencies and a collaboration with glass studio Berengo that invites artists to experiment with the medium – spot Karen La Monte’s Reclining Nocturne 3 in the gallery. The building originally opened as a hotel in 1895, the same year as the inaugural biennale, but in 2019 the St Regis unveiled the fruits of a stellar two-year renovation, including a ballroom, library and garden overlooking the Grand Canal.
Address: The St Regis, San Marco, Venice, Italy
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Lydia EvansJW Marriott Venice Resort and Spa
Until 2015, one of Venice’s larger lagoon islands, Isola delle Rose, lay abandoned for decades. Its latest incarnation is as a JW Marriott hotel, the group's top-tier brand designed by Milan-based Matteo Thun & Partners. Spaces are lustrous and bright with unfiltered Mediterranean light; the interiors are refreshingly contemporary for Venice, and on the fourth floor is the ravishing rooftop bar and pool (one of very few in the city, which makes this hotel doubly special). Interiors are clean but not minimalist, and the most coveted rooms overlook the lagoon (we’ll take number 506, please!) or the 1,000-year-old olive groves or the soaring neo-Romanesque Catholic church. Less urban bolthole, more holiday hotel with all the trimmings, this property is all about the location, the space, the light, the air. Fabio Trabocchi brings his acclaimed Michelin-starred Fiola fine dining concept to Dopolavoro Venezia, as well as a slick cooking academy fronted by Micki Milan. Michelle Jana Chan
Address: JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa, Isola Delle Rose Laguna Di, 30133 Venezia VE, Italy
DD724
After the 2,437th brocade-draped bedroom, a touch of designer rigour is refreshing; and the DD724, which recently added a seventh bedroom, seems more confident now. Lines are geometric, tones run the gamut of brown. The only splashes of colour are provided by the armchairs, covered in Frigerio chequerboard fabrics; and the works by contemporary Italian artists on the walls. The tiny breakfast room calls for a little marmalade-and-croissant choreography, especially if everyone gets hungry at the same time. Fellow guests are likely to be visiting curators at the Peggy Guggenheim museum, which is just along the canal.
Address: DD724, Dorsoduro, 724, 30123 Venezia VE, Italy
Ca Maria Adele
This romantic 12-bedroom boutique bolthole has opulent themed suites that take traditionally Venetian design to decadent extremes with black Murano glass chandeliers, heavyweight damask textiles, ornate furniture and gilt mirrors. You’ll be greeted with drinks and snacks, and ushered through to the sumptuous bedrooms, where the baroque is balanced with the bohemian, making for a grown-up getaway overlooking the Salute Canal.
Address: Ca Maria Adele, Sestiere Dorsoduro, 111, 30123 Venezia VE, Italy
Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal
The long awaited renovation of one of Venice's most prestigious hotels revealed a hybrid of designer hotel and traditional Grand Canal damask-and-gilt four-star. The party piece of the new-look Monaco – acquired by the Benetton group in 1992 – is the restored Teatro del Ridotto, a 17th-century gaming room where Casanova was a habitué. Book one of the new bedrooms in the Palazzo Selvadego, an annexe occupying a former insurance office a minute's walk from the main hotel. The warm colours, funky fabrics and stylish lighting more than compensate for the lack of a lagoon view and the short walk to breakfast.
Address: Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal, Plaza San Marco, 1332, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
Al Ponte Mocenigo
Book well in advance at this two-star, 10-bedroom gem reached via its own little bridge over the tranquil Rio San Stae: you'll be hard pushed to find accommodation with a better price-quality ratio in Venice. The hotel is on the lower two floors of a typical Venetian mansion built around a pretty courtyard, where breakfast is served in summer under a big white umbrella. Once inside, where the look is tasteful, mod-Venetian, public space is limited to a tiny bar and breakfast area, but the bedrooms are spacious and inviting.
Address: Al Ponte Mocenigo, Santa Croce 1985, 30135 Venezia VE, Italy
Simon WatsonBauer Palazzo
The creation of dynamic young hotelier Francesca Bortolotto Possati, who inherited the hotel from her grandfather, Bauer (previously Il Palazzo) has become a serious option for the discreet rich. Its decor is restrained, but its quiet sense of antique style grows on one after the ubiquitous Venetian gilt-and-brocade experience. Cocooning couples should opt for room number 846, a bright, mansard room with views over the rooftops on two sides.
Address: Bauer, San Marco, 1459, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
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Ca’Sagredo Hotel
Classified as a national monument, this 15th-century Grand Canal palazzo boasts original frescoes by Giambattista Tiepolo and Pietro Longhi, a ceremonial marble staircase, and an ornate 18th-century music room where you half-expect to bump into Casanova. Seven years in restoration, this five-star luxury hotel has four stunning historical suites: one occupies Count Sagredo's former library, where Galileo (a friend of the family) used to study. Standard doubles, served by anonymous modern corridors, are more modest, but some of those on the fourth floor have cute terraces with rooftop views.
Address: Ca’Sagredo, Campo Santa Sofia, 4198/99, 30121 Venezia VE, Italy
Corte 1321
There are no bridges to cross on the short walk from the San Silvestro vaporetto stop to this relaxed little B&B, run by an American mother-and-daughter team; but make sure you get clear directions. Hidden away behind inky blue doors on a tiny Campiello behind Sant' Aponal in the buzzy sestiere of San Polo, the B&B occupies part of the ground and mezzanine floor of weathered 15th-century Palazzo Bernardi. A great deal of care has gone into decorating the four spacious bedrooms, all painted in warm colours with low, beamed ceilings and wood floors. You'll find custom-made beds and textiles from Bali, silk cushions, oriental rugs, warm lighting and good, big, bathrooms.
Address: Corte 1321, Campiello De Ca' Bernardo, 1321, 30125 Venezia VE, Italy
Matthieu SalvaingPalazzo Cristo
Paris-based interior designers Anna Covre and Frédéric Tubau have done an inspired job renovating this 16th-century house on Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo in the Castello, a neighbourhood still thriving with Venetian families and local life. Following an initial restoration of what was supposed to be their second home, the pair got the opportunity to buy an additional floor in the building and create the kind of turbo-slick, ultra-smart, bells-and-whistles apartments not seen before in the lagoon. The original exposed timber beams have been repaired, Carrara marble and travertine installed, oak parquet flooring and bespoke lighting fitted and canopy beds and flock velvet armchairs placed just so. The pared-back palette is a million miles from the usual gilded ceilings and Murano-glass extravagance. Jill Weinreich
Address: Palazzo Cristo, Campo S.S. Giovanni e Paolo, 6805A, 30122 Venezia VE, Italy
The Novocento
The Novocento is what every townhouse boutique hotel should be: homely, eclectic and a little scuffed at the edges. Downstairs, the oak-beamed breakfast room, which occasionally hosts photography or glassware exhibitions, opens onto a delightful patio where the morning spread of croissants, fruit, coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice is served when the weather is good enough. The nine bedrooms are all a little different, decorated with furniture from Bali, India and (occasionally) Venice, a mix that reflects the maritime republic's Eastern horizons. Beds have firm mattresses, and mod-cons fit snugly into the ethno-antique scheme, including air-conditioning, satellite TV and even Wi-Fi Internet access. Service is willing and attentive, with none of the snooty, world-weary attitude that is so often on parade at many of the city's more expensive hotels.
Address: The Novocento, San Marco, 2683, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
Oltre Il Giardino
This place is really special: a country-house hotel in the centre of Venice. Alma Mahler, the composer's widow, lived here in the 1920s, and her bucolic Venetian abode has now been turned into an exclusive but homely six-bedroom retreat by Franco-Venetian Alessandra Arduini Zambelli and her son Lorenzo. Inside, it's a home-from-home mix of antique furniture, contemporary rugs, designer objets and Edwardian portraits, with mod cons (LCD TVs, Jacuzzis) hidden amid the tasteful clutter. The rooms vary in size, style and price; the two largest (the Turquoise and Green rooms) are the most expensive.
Address: Oltre Il Giardino, San Polo 2542, 30125 Venezia VE, Italy